Former Kansas University basketball players Keith Langford and Aaron Miles will play for the NBA Development League title Saturday.
The Fort Worth (Texas) Flyers’ rookie guard combo combined for 33 points in Saturday’s 87-78 semifinal victory over Roanoke (Va.).
Miles, who scored 22 points off 7-of-15 shooting and went 8-of-8 from the line, and Langford, who tallied 11 points off 4-of-13 marksmanship, will lead the Flyers against Albuquerque, N.M., in a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
The 6-foot-1 Miles, who opened the year with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, averaged 10.1 points off 44.6 percent shooting, with 6.6 assists per game during the regular season.
The 6-4 Langford, who played the entire season in the NBADL, averaged 11.5 tallies off 48.9 percent shooting for his hometown team. He contributed 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest.
Miles hit two free throws with 49 seconds left in the semifinal – his squad up by four. He followed that with a blocked shot.
“I give Aaron a lot of credit,” Flyers coach Sam Vincent told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He really grew up in the fourth quarter. That’s what this league is for, for those guys to get into those situations.”
In all, 25 players competed for the Flyers this season, including Luke Schenscher and Ime Udoka, who were called up to the NBA.
“Coach Vincent does a good job of balancing it out between everybody and trying to win,” Langford said. “I just think consistently we’ve been the best team to adjust to this system. You kind of learn to not get attached to guys.”
AAU travels: KU coaches scouted a pair of AAU Tournaments over the weekend – the Easter Classic in Las Vegas and Real Deal on the Hill in Fayetteville, Ark.
The top KU prospect in Vegas was Kyle Singler, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound junior from South Medford High in Oregon, who plays for Portland’s Elite Legends.
Rivals.com’s No. 4 rated player has a list of KU, UCLA, Arizona and Duke.
Gary Johnson, a 6-7, 210-pound junior forward from Aldine High in Houston, played for Houston Hoops in Vegas. The No. 24 player in the class is considering Arizona, Kentucky, Duke, Texas, KU and possibly others.
Other top prospects in Vegas: Anthony Jones, 6-9 sophomore, Houston Milby High and Ravern Johnson, 6-7 junior, Clarksdale, Miss., High.
Michael Sanchez, a 6-8, 230-pounder from Springdale (Ark.) Har-Ber High, played for the Arkansas Hawks in the Fayetteville Tourney. The No. 65 player in the Class of 2007 has a list of KU, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Maryland.
Never too early: Sixteen-year-old Renardo Sidney, a 6-9, 215-pounder from Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi, who is the top player in the Class of 2009, drew a crowd in Fayetteville.
Sidney was unable to play this past season after transferring to Piney Woods.
“As a father, you feel helpless,” Renardo Sidney Sr., coach of the Mississippi Magic, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “What are you going to tell your son besides, ‘Hang in there.’ Taking basketball away from him would be like taking the football out of Brett Favre’s hand.”
Sidney’s mother told the paper someone posing as a reporter talked his way into the Sidney home, only to reveal a different agenda inside.
“We just kind of learn as we go,” Patricia Sidney said of shutting out agents. “We’re not too worried about it because we’re keeping him close … There are people out there that will try to take advantage.”
Aldrich update: Future KU player Cole Aldrich, a 6-11 junior center from Bloomington, Minn., scored nine points with six rebounds for the U.S. team in an 84-77 opening loss to Croatia at the Albert Schweitzer International Youth Basketball Tournament in Germany.
He had five points and four boards in a 112-91 second-round U.S. win over Israel. Earlier he had eight points in a 76-75 exhibition victory against China.
“It’s rough,” Aldrich told Stars and Stripes of the play down low in the international event. “It’s a lot more physical than the U.S.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a big man that dominant,” said Heidelberg (Germany) High School coach Brad Shahan, a longtime observer of the tournament impressed with Aldrich’s presence on the boards late in the win over China.
Arthur to visit LSU?: Darrell Arthur, a 6-9 forward from Dallas’ South Oak Cliff High, is expected to make an unofficial visit to LSU’s campus next weekend with his mother. He’s considering KU, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma and LSU.
